TANAMI - Project Description

Observations:

TANAMI observations are made with the Australian/South-African Long
Baseline Array (LBA+), using the antennas at Parkes (64m), ATCA (5x22m), Mopra (22m), Hobart
(26m), Ceduna
(30m) and the associated antennas Tidbinbilla
(DSN 70m or 34m), the IVS antennas TIGO (6m) and O'Higgins (9m) and Hartebeesthoek (26m). We
conduct snapshot observations at 8.4GHz and 22GHz with a typical ~60min
integration time per frequency observed in typically 8 scans
distributed over 12 hours. Target sources are monitored every ~4 months
with a typical angular resolution of 1.5 x 0.7 mas.

Multifrequency blazar SED studies will play an important role in the Fermi era: The TANAMI program is
supported by an approved ATCA program for flux density monitoring
between 6cm and 7mm, with largely overlapping target lists (team
contact S. Tingay, s.tingay@ivec.org)
and a flux density monitoring program undertaken by the University of
Tasmania, including the Ceduna and Hobart antennas (team contact J.
Lovell, Jim.Lovell@utas.edu.au).
Simultaneous to TANAMI and Fermi
observations, Swift UVOT/XRT
observations are collecting UV to X-ray broadband source spectra (PI M.
Kadler, Matthias.Kadler@sternwarte.uni-erlangen.de).

The TANAMI-Fermi
Connection:

AGN jets pointed at small angles to our line of sight, so-called
blazars, emit radiation up to the highest energies in the
electromagnetic spectrum. The Fermi satellite searches for
high frequency gamma-ray emission from AGN (and other objects) on the
whole sky. We are studying the jet activity of Southern-Hemisphere AGN
at radio wavelengths contemporaneously with Fermi.

Key questions addressed by the TANAMI program: Where are the γ-rays
produced in AGN jets? Are the γ-rays beamed with the same Lorentz
factor as indicated by superluminal motion? Are γ-ray flares
accompanied by jet-component ejections?